The Newsie Hat
by timewarpp
Summary: Set in LBD-verse. Inspired by the prompt- "Darcy only wearing a bow tie because he thinks (thanks to her videos) that she likes it; he didn't wear it before."


Prompt: "Darcy only wearing a bow tie because he thinks (thanks to her videos) that she likes it; he didn't wear it before."

After Darcy watched her last video, he closed the laptop but didn't move. Well, he thought, that was certainly illuminating. It did explain why she rejected his advances. He didn't know he could have been so blind, so stupid. Before today, he had never once considered how his actions could've been interpreted by other people.

Lizzie was certainly a frustrating one. She got under his nerves and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her out of his head. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She wasn't like the other girls to say the least. Lizzie might not be unconventionally beautiful but what she lacked in looks she more than made up in personality and brains. She was passionate and had a certain spark to her.

However, she seemed to purposely misunderstand his actions. He would stare at her out of admiration, not contempt. He had struck up that conversation about the speakers not to show off but because he had thought it would be something she would enjoy discussing. He had viewed their conversations as debates, not arguments. Darcy sighed and leaned back into his chair.

What added even more to the mess was that he had been totally wrong about Jane. Sweet Jane Bennet. Darcy was not the sort of person who liked to admit it when he was wrong but oh boy. He had been totally off base about Jane's affections. And Lizzie sure knew it. While he did not doubt the validity of Jane's affections anymore, he had an unpleasant feeling about Bing's. If Bing were truly as infatuated with Jane as he said he was, he had left behind Jane awfully easily. Did Jane love Bing more than he loved her? Darcy had to go to Los Angeles soon and rectify the mess that he had caused. He had only thought he was being a good friend at the time but... looking back on it, he had been pretty selfish. Did he meddle in their relationship because it reminded him of his affections for Lizzie? Ugh, when had his life turned into a soap opera?

He needed to clear his head. He went to get his bicycle and started riding. He didn't know where he was riding to but he just needed to get out. Lizzie's videos certainly had stung him. She didn't exactly portray him in the best light. However, Darcy admitted that some of it had actually been humorous. Contrary to popular opinion, Darcy did have a sense of humor and he had found it funny. Lizzie's impersonations of her mother were not totally off base. He shook his head in amusement. At least Lizzie was able to recognize her family's flaws. There had been something interesting though. In all of her portrayals of him, she (or someone else) would always wear a newsie hat and a bow. He had only worn the newsie hat once at the wedding when he met Lizzie. It was a rather odd choice to wear to a wedding but he had lost a bet to Gigi and was forced to wear it. He wouldn't have worn it otherwise. Darcy had never worn a bow before though. When he would dress formally, he would wear a tie instead. Was it possible that Lizzie liked that sort of thing? A newsie hat and bow combination? It seemed peculiar but he could definitely get behind that.

When Darcy went to give Lizzie the letter, he made sure to wear the bow. After that, he and Fitz left. It would be for the best, Darcy mused. He did not want to make Lizzie feel awkward during her stay there. He hoped that she would read the letter and understand his actions a little bit better. Most of all, he hoped that she would be repelled away from George Wickham. Ugh, Wickham. Merely the thought of him gave Darcy a bad taste in his mouth. How could he have lied and manipulated Lizzie like that? That man was only bad news and the sooner Lizzie realized that, the better.

After Darcy and Fitz got to Los Angeles and dropped off their things at Bing's place, they went out. Unusually, Darcy didn't want to be confined indoors today. They went walking towards one of Fitz's favorite hang outs.

"Hey Darce?" Fitz asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay man? You've been quiet. A lot more than usual."

Darcy sighed. "I've just been thinking a lot. I watched Lizzie's videos."

"You WHAT?" Fitz practically yelled.

"Quiet down," Darcy hissed. People were looking at them now.

"Sorry," Fitz said in a lower voice. "You watched her videos?"

Darcy nodded. "They were very illuminating."

Fitz exhaled. "Yeah I bet. So... what?"

Darcy filled in Fitz on the situation. Fitz was one of the two people in the world that Darcy wholly trusted. Gigi was the other. Fitz's animated face changed throughout the conversation. His face went from horror to sympathy to something indecipherable.

"Wow," Fitz said shaking his head after Darcy had finished explaining. "That explains a lot. So what're you gonna do now?"

"I have to fix the Jane situation first and foremost. Apparently Jane is somewhere here in Los Angeles. She shouldn't be that hard to find."

Fitz nodded in agreement. "And then?" he asked while wiggling his eyebrow.

Darcy frowned. "And then?" he repeated.

"What about you and Lizzie?"

Darcy shrugged. "Lizzie does not reciprocate my feelings. She understandably despises me. There is no me and Lizzie."

Fitz rolled his eyes. "Trust me dude. The opposite of love isn't hate. It's apathy! Anyways, Lizzie doesn't hate you. I can tell."

Darcy looked uncertain. "Well what can I do then? Lizzie calls me boring and stiff."

Fitz grinned. "Then we gotta change that."

Darcy thought about it. "Well, she did seem to like the appeal of me wearing a newsie hat and bow tie."

"Perfect. Let's go."

They went to shop after shop until they finally found both the hat and bow tie. Darcy put them on and felt utterly ridiculous.

"I feel so stupid right now," he muttered while pulling on the bow so it didn't constrict his breathing.

"No, no," Fitz assured him. "This is good. You have to show that you have a sense of humor. That you're capable of laughing at yourself."

"Alright fine. How can we do that?"

"Let's take a picture."

At this point, the men were on a bridge. Fitz looked around and found a random person willing to take their picture. He gave the person his phone and went over to where Darcy awkwardly stood.

"Loosen up," Fitz said through clenched teeth. Darcy tried to loosen up and Fitz tried to give him bunny ears.

After the picture was taken and the person was thanked, Fitz looked at it.

"Perfect," he said while typing away on his phone furiously.

"What exactly was the point of that?" Darcy asked.

"I tweeted the pic! Lizzie follows me on Twitter so she'll definitely see it."

Darcy shrugged. The picture certainly couldn't hurt. It's not like it would make her dislike him even more.

The two men walked to a lounge where Fitz took another silly picture of the two of them and promptly tweeted it.

When they got back home, Bing wasn't there which was a good thing since Darcy didn't know exactly how to approach the topic of Jane. He needed a plan. Luckily, Caroline wasn't there either thank goodness. Darcy knew that she was attracted to him but he hadn't known the extent of her meddling with Lizzie.

Darcy went to his room and shut the door. He stood in the front of the mirror and looked at himself. Hmm, he thought, I can definitely wear this. There was something strangely appealing about wearing the hat. The bow tie wasn't bad either. It made him look… distinguished? For a lack of a better word. He went over to his laptop and ordered another hat and several bow ties of different varieties.


End file.
